Dual processor woes

skisteven1

Senior member
Jul 15, 2003
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I got old dual socket-370 mobo on ebay several months ago, and though i initially had some problems with it, its been working fine since august or so (with one processor). I recently aquired a matched set of two PIII 1Ghz chips which I'd like to use in it. However, nothing seems to work in the second socket.

All three chips have the same sSpec, and all three chips work in the first socket /when alone/. However, anytime I plug two chips in at the same time, the second one doesn't work at all. BIOS doesn't even recognize it. Any ideas? could this be jumper settings? or is my mobo probably broken?
 

SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
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What motherboard is it? Are the P3's SMP-certified? Some were and some were not, depending on the stepping.
 

skisteven1

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Jul 15, 2003
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it is a MSI 694D Pro. The sSpec on all the chips is: SL52R. I haven't heard or seen anything about SMP enabled P3's... I was told that any two chips of the same stepping (which these obviously are), should work.

I've done a little more testing. If I have two chips in, the BIOS only recognizes one, but I can't boot into windows. However, if I take out the second processor, it boots just fine.

Does this sound like a hosed socket?
 

DJMiX

Golden Member
May 31, 2001
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Are these PIII or celerons...

Celerons won't run in dual cpu boards...

IF they are PIII I would check the capaciators
 

skisteven1

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Originally posted by: DJMiX
Are these PIII or celerons...

Celerons won't run in dual cpu boards...

IF they are PIII I would check the capaciators

they're P3's. How do i check the capacitors? which one's might be bad, and how might i go about identifiying or replacing them?

can you either give me a lot more detail or a place where i can find it?
 

skisteven1

Senior member
Jul 15, 2003
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Assuming those little round vertical tubes that look like capacitors are indeed capacitors, then no, none are leaking, and so far as I can tell, none are bulging.
 

SickBeast

Lifer
Jul 21, 2000
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Originally posted by: skisteven1
BIOS doesn't even recognize it.

I'm thinking that this is likely your problem. The 1ghz P3 chips came out very late in the life of the P3. I'm sure most BIOSes at the time required an update to recognize them.

So, either update your BIOS or confirm that those chips are supported by your current version.
 

skisteven1

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Jul 15, 2003
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It works with just one chip. Doesn't that mean it should work with two?

As for updating the BIOS, its been on my todo list, but i've been putting off since I don't have a floppy drive. If you think this may be the problem, I can probably do it in a day or two. Should that effect it though if it works with any one of the chips?
 

Orillian

Junior Member
Oct 10, 2004
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I'd also take a good long look at the jumper settings for this particual mobo. you might be surprised to find some setting that's single socket capable is not usable when in dual or some such thing. I'd not rule it a dead mobo just yet.

O.
 

Peter

Elite Member
Oct 15, 1999
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Go to Intel's web site, and either download the "Pentium III processor Specification Update" document, or do an S-Spec search for your Sxxxx lot code number. That'll tell you whether you have SMP-capable Pentiums there or not.
 

skisteven1

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Jul 15, 2003
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sSpec: SL52R
sSpec info from intel

...I don't see anything about SMP capability. The guy I bought these processors from says he pulled them from a working SMP system. That's pretty much all I've got. Oh, and I had a dream that one of the pins was bent last night, so I'll double check that when I get back from work. -- Same goes for the BIOS update.
 

skisteven1

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Jul 15, 2003
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is it possible that they're simply not made for SMP? does anything on the sSpec page indicate that? I can't seem to find anyhting.... I've obtained a floppy drive, so BIOS update should be tonight.
 

Teva24

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Apr 11, 2001
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Just a quick question:

Did you reinstall the os?

A Windows OS will not see a second processor unless you either: Install the os with the 2nd one installed or Upgrade the HAL after you have been using a single proc and are installing a 2nd cpu.

HAL = Hardware Abstration Layer

For simplicity's sake there are 2 hals, single proc and multi-proc. a multi-proc hal will work with only one cpu, but a single proc hal will ONLY ever see ONE cpu no matter how many are installed.

O, just read that the bios won't see the 2nd one. Well, for multiprocessing there are two types of P3. Original P3 from 600mhzish to 1ghzish. and the Tulatin chips that are 1.0ghish to 1.4ghzish.

The original chips are all native multi processor capable. the Tualatin chips that have 512k cache are multiprocessor the ones with 256k cache are single proc only. The CPU packaging would say the Cache per cpu, If it's a Tualtin cpu and if it says 256k you will never get it working in a multiprocessor system.

In general you want cpu's that are going to be used in a multiprocessor system to have nearly identical serial numbers. This is called serialazation. There are different steppings of a given cpu (minor cpu modifcations during the life of the chip, slightly different ways to process information). Getting cpu's with the close to the same serial number guarentees that they came from the same batch (should have the same stepping. The intel limit is for multiprocessor system is same stepping or 1 stepping difference. More than that will probably work, but you may see crashes or other problems as one cpu will finish an instruction slightly faster/slower than the other cpu.

Forgive any errors, it's been a while since i worked with PIII's.

-Teav24
 

skisteven1

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Jul 15, 2003
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I can't seem to find my chips in the specification file, but I dont think that's the problem, as they came together from a "working" SMP system. Both have stepping cD0, and are just 2 serial numbers apart.

I'm attempting to flash the BIOS right now, and am having all sorts of trouble with it. Using the BIOSes available from MSI for the 694D Pro (MSI-6321) v1, nothing seems to be working at all. I can boot to dos, and run the flash program, but it just loads up the "file name to program", and then stalls and becomes unresponsive. I'm using AWARD flash (awfl789.exe), in case anyone's heard of bad things. I suppose I'll just keep trying..

btw-- There's no problem with jumping a lot of BIOS revisions, is there? I'm jumping 9 revisions here...

**UPDATE**

this program is really stupid. It responds exactly the same way, regardless of whether the file i specify actually exists or not. It seeks the disk for the same amount of time, and then freezes.

i hate my comuter.
 

Peter

Elite Member
Oct 15, 1999
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Strange that I found it (pg. 16) ... no non-DP footnote on that one. So it SHOULD be working ...
 

skisteven1

Senior member
Jul 15, 2003
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Originally posted by: Peter
Strange that I found it (pg. 16) ... no non-DP footnote on that one. So it SHOULD be working ...

Search isn't working in my adobe... It's on the todo list, i swear. :p

Anyway-- I found a newer copy of the award flashing program, and though it appears to work better, it still doesn't seem to flash the BIOS properly. This one actually responds though, and even backs up the old BIOS to a file. It just freezes when it says "Do not shut off the computer during the flashing process", and doesn't even get a progress meter like it does when it writes out the old one to file.

oy.
 

skisteven1

Senior member
Jul 15, 2003
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Is there anything which might prevent the award flash program from actually writing to the BIOS? That's the point where it seems to freeze every time. I havne't seen anything in the BIOS, and I don't think there's a jumper to prevent it on my mobo... but that's the only thing I can think of that makes sense at this point. I'm using award 8.22a (which I found online, and is not included on MSI's website). Is there a newer version? upgrading to 8.22a over 7.x seemed to help a lot.

Any ideas? anybody?
 

Peter

Elite Member
Oct 15, 1999
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Sure, there might be a BIOS write protect jumper on the board. This is actually quite common on more serious equipment.
 

skisteven1

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Jul 15, 2003
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Originally posted by: Peter
Sure, there might be a BIOS write protect jumper on the board. This is actually quite common on more serious equipment.

I certainly haven't seen anything, but will check again when I get home. A friend of mine (who bought the same board at the same time and hasn't had trouble with his) thinks my troubles may be related to a little mishap I had when I first got the board. Something shorted, and it wouldn't turn on for several days. After that though, it seemed to work fine, and I haven't had any trouble with it. He thinks I may simply have screwed myself over on that one.

Does that seem feasable?
 

Peter

Elite Member
Oct 15, 1999
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Well ... let's suppose you b0rked something important like for example the 2nd CPU's voltage regulation, then yes, that'd explain things.
 

skisteven1

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Jul 15, 2003
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Originally posted by: Peter
Well ... let's suppose you b0rked something important like for example the 2nd CPU's voltage regulation, then yes, that'd explain things.

It seems to me that its unlikely I messed up both the BIOS flashing ability AND the second socket, and still noticed no unusual activity when using just a single proc. Or is that just me being naive?
 

Peter

Elite Member
Oct 15, 1999
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Regarding the BIOS, have you read the manual yet to look for a write protect jumper? Can you assert whether the BIOS is in a ROM chip that's actually supposed to be in there? (The point being that every BIOS only supports a certain set of ROM chips; others can't be flashed because it's the BIOS that does the flashing, not the utility program.)